vulgar English · revision 1004

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈvʌl.ɡɚ/; /ˈvʌl.ɡə/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|vulgar]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|la|vulgāris|t=of the common people; common, ordinary]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''vulgus'' “the common people, the crowd”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Common, ordinary, used in common reckoning (c. 1391).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The AHD cites ''vulgar'' as an example of pejoration, a word whose meaning has changed for the worse.^(AHD) In Latin and in early English it meant “belonging to the common people, everyday, ordinary”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) and of language “vernacular”, as in ''Vulgar Latin'' (1483).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) What is common was seen as debased, and in the 17th century the word came to mean “coarse, ill-bred, lacking refinement” (1643).^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The sense “crudely indecent” followed.^(AHD)^(RHWU) The older sense survives in phrases such as ''vulgar fraction'' (1674).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1391 – common, ordinary.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1430 – in general use, customary.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1483 – of a language, vernacular.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1590 – ''the vulgar'', the common people.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1643 – coarse, low, ill-bred.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1674 – ''vulgar fraction''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Lacking taste, delicacy or refinement; [[coarse]] or ill-bred; also, offensively [[ostentatious]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Crudely [[indecent]] or [[obscene]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of or associated with the common people; [[plebeian]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Spoken by or expressed in the language of the common people; [[vernacular]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Generally current; common or ordinary, as in ''vulgar fraction''.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vulgarly]]

+ * [[vulgarness]]

+ * [[vulgarism]]

+ * [[vulgarize]]

+ * [[Vulgar Latin]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Vulgate]]

+ * [[divulge]]

+ * [[vulgarity]]

+ * [[common]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}